Manual scavengers to tie rakhi to Modi

New Delhi, Aug 28: Several manual scavengers, liberated by an NGO, will tie rakhi to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan that falls on Saturday.

The group of five women will also hand over 1,000 rakhis to Modi designed by the widows from Vrindavana and Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh who have been looked after by the NGO Sulabh International.

"Tying Rakhis to prime minister will be a major symbol against the existing stigma towards manual scavengers. It is a sad thing that widows have been considered inauspicious and manual scavengers as untouchables," said Bindeshwar Pathak, founder of Sulabh International.

With the help of Sulabh International, these people have been moved from manual scavenging to work like cooking, embroidery and painting.

Earlier on Raksha Bandhan, hundreds of manual scavengers and widows also tied rakhis on the wrist of Hindu priests and Sanskrit scholars.

Sulabh International works towards improvement of sanitation conditions across the country and also helps in the rehabilitation of manual scavengers.